Just A Dream
by brooke-ella1990
Summary: Hermione is eighteen and engaged to Ron W. when news comes of his death...


A/N: so I was listening to Carrie Underwood's new cd, Carnival Ride - and I got inspired by her song Just A Dream. And as in true fanfiction addict fashion, I promptly thought of doing a songfic/oneshot with the possibility of becoming a multichaptered. Well, we'll just have to see how reviews go, and how you people like it.

_It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen _

Hermione Granger was eighteen, legal in both of the worlds to which she belonged. The wizarding world, where she had been legal for a year now. And as of two weeks ago, she was now legal in the Muggle world. Instead of leaving her parent's home for independence and various grownup reasons, she was still staying in her childhood room.

She wakes up in the green room of her childhood; the mint green walls were splashed with stripes from her Venetian blinds. As with almost any other morning, she spent exactly two extra minutes curled up in her warm and comfy bed before heading to the bathroom for a morning shower. Hermione showered, and was carefully using her wand and a hair dryer to do her hair, and that was when she heard screaming from downstairs. She threw down her hair dryer and hurtled down the stairs.

Her mother sat in the living room, she had been watching television when they arrived, and two officially dressed Ministry Wizards, neither of which Hermione had ever met before. They had come by the Floo Network. The Ministry Wizards startled Hermione's mother by coming down the fireplace, which wasn't normal in the Muggle society in which her mother lived. Hermione had her wand pointed out, and was glaring at the men. Who wore grim expressions as they looked over the fiery teenager, who held the reputation as being the brightest witch of her age.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione demands angrily.

"Miss Granger, my name is Barnaby Jones. This is Dino Wentz. And I'm afraid we have some rather bad news for you."

"What is my bad news?" Hermione glares powerfully at the men who appeared in her mother's house, with no warning.

_Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now_

The next two minutes Hermione felt as though she had been sliced in half, part of her was dying on the couch and the other half was watching from far away, as the ministry wizards explained that Ron Weasley had been killed in an auror mission. Hermione was crying hysterically, she couldn't feel her mother stroking her hair gently and her tears falling into Hermione's hair.

"He fought very bravely, but in the end, Marcus Wingby got to him, stunned him then killed him." Hermione shrieked in agony.

"I think you boys had better get out of my house now." Her mother said using a tone only an angry mother can pull off.

The boys handed Hermione a folded cloak and then they went into the fireplace and flooed away. Hermione squeezed it tightly, the last thing she had left of Ron.

Hermione and Ron had always had their rocky points, disagreements, arguments when they thought they would never speak again. Even as they dated it had been that way. Ron would say something stupid and not know, Hermione would get offended, and Ron would get annoyed and offended that Hermione got annoyed over seemingly nothing. They wouldn't speak for a few days then they would seem to have a simultaneous 'I forgive you' moment then they would passionately kiss. It had been brilliant, amazing and sweet for the five months they had finally brought their friendship full circle and started dating. Now it was all over.

_I was counting on forever, now I'll never know_

She was sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow, being held by her second mother, Molly Weasley. Hermione's grief was terrible, in just two months Molly would have officially been Hermione's mother in law. The thought hit Hermione - would have been - and a wave crashed over her head and she started sobbing.

The entire Weasley family was heartbroken over their loss of the youngest son. Hermione twisted her engagement ring around her finger as she remembered how Ron proposed to her. It was perfect, and by perfect, and almost perfectly cliché; he made a picnic with a red and white checked tablecloth, peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches, little salads and potato salad and fruit punch. The only non-traditional part was how she got the ring, most likely. It was in a teeny little plastic zip-locked bag, buried in her salad. Then when she had finally held the ring in her hand, tears streaming down her face, as he asked her "Hermione Jean Granger, will you be my wife?" She accepted.

_Baby why'd you leave me  
Why'd you have to go?_

Hermione cried at the funeral, great heaving sobs that made her body ache. She was finally up to speak her piece about Ron.

"The first thing I noticed about Ron, was that he had dirt on the side of his nose." She paused for a breath as the room chuckled "I was looking for Neville's toad. The whole episode of us in the train compartment first year, was why I felt annoyed by Ron, how could he have not noticed a streak of dirt on the side of his face? I later found out, he thought I was an annoying, bossy girl. You know, I might have been, I am still am, but Ron loved me for it. He never complained (too much) when I organized his schedule and enforced the schedule. I love him so much." The rest of Hermione's carefully written eulogy of her love was cut off, by when she started crying in front of everybody. Heavily enough to stop the flow of words so that she was escorted from the pulpit by Fred and George.

Harry's speech consisted of "Ron was my best friend, he was like no other. Passionate about Quidditch, though only a mediocre player, he tolerated my non-stop theories about Voldemort, he was always in my shadow, which I know annoyed him to no end. He always wanted to be known as Ron Weasley, not Harry Potter's best friend, or so and so's brother. I wish he could be here to see that he was loved by many."

Remus Lupin, their Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, 3rd year; "Ron was always one of my favorite students, no he wasn't the brightest, or the most famous" Lupin smiled sadly at Hermione and Harry, "but he always asked questions, and he always tried even if he really didn't want to."

Several others went up and shared funny stories about Ron, all of which made Hermione chuckle from the memory or sob harder knowing that he would never moan about homework or chores or going up early for work, or work ever again.

_It's like I'm looking from a distance  
Standing in the background_  
At the burial, Hermione felt oddly detached from everybody. Like she, herself had died and was watching the proceedings. It was what made her feel confused, she needed a hand to hold to keep her anchored. There was Ginny and Harry holding onto each other and crying. Ginny crying openly and blowing her nose and Harry's tears running silently down his face and a red nose. Hermione could only imagine what she looked like. Frizzy brown hair, eyeliner and mascara running in lines down her pale face, and her foundation ruined, by little rivers of tears. Who would love this face now? The only one she wanted to love her was gone.

_This can't be happening to me  
This is just a dream_

This had to be a dream, Ron wasn't dead. He was coming back. He would walk through that door and swing her up in his arms and kiss her passionately. Other people died, but not Ron, not her Ron. _  
This can't be happening to me  
This is just a dream_

But no matter how hard she dreamed, wished, prayed. This wasn't a dream.

* * *

_- _I decided that the whole song did not fit in perfect sync with my idea so I basically took the lines that inspired me and used them as directions for my story. The Lyrics for the song can be found in the link in this sentence: D

- Slightly DH compatible, changes include the non-deaths of Nympadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Fred Weasley and possibly a Severus Snape. Not Epilogue compatible (Obvy). There will be appearances of a non-holey George Weasley. Though this all depends on if you demand more chapters of me. :D

-Please review, be honest - but be nice about it - and tell me if you love it or hate it 


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